Team Exercise
by Sapphire1
Summary: Bumblebee's days at the Academy. Proving that you are a team player can leave some destruction behind. Feedback loved.


Team Exercise

By Sapphire

Ironhide couldn't quite believe what his optics were showing him. Only a few cycles ago the Academy obstacle course had looked relatively intact if somewhat muddied. Now it was nothing but a ruined wasteland. He'd never seen such destruction outside of a battlefield and even there he had to think hard to remember one looking as bad as this.

The four Autobots responsible for the carnage stood at the side, looking all a little bit stunned themselves at the outcome of their actions, though the smallest one, a yellow mechanoid, who could easily walk underneath Ironhide's outstretched arm if he wanted, couldn't quite hide a satisfied smirk.

Ironhide had downloaded the files of all team members and was studying them now.

The name of the little one was Bumblebee. According to his instructors he was a mean tracker and second to none in the art of data retrieval and analysis. One of the youngest Autobots ever to be admitted to the Academy, he had had some problems adapting in the beginnings but soon had overcome it and was now considered one of the brightest cadets in the Centre.

Nearly equal to Ironhide's size were the next two team members. Going by the designations Tweel and RV they looked enough alike to be brothers. Tweel, in silver and black, was a mediocre student, considered to be somewhat vain, while cream-colored RV was somewhat of a class clown, though he did provide good enough grades.

Last was one of the biggest Autobots Ironhide had ever seen. He was almost as tall as Optimus Prime and possibly outweighed the Autobot leader by a good bit. Bulldozer was considered somewhat slow and the medics suspected that something was not quite right with his wiring, but so far he had done well at the Academy. He was a mean fighter and there wasn't much that would be able to go through his dark blue armour.

It was a mixed group, to say the least, but one that, as Ironhide had just seen, had proven to be quite efficient in working together.

---

This morning Ironhide had arrived at the Academy to watch the cadets' training session. He was scheduled to come here in a few orns to teach a weapons class and had wanted to see the cadets in action, to see what material he would have to work with later on.

The task, which had been given to the cadets, was to run as a group through the obstacle course as fast a possible. It was a good exercise to test the cadets' strength, agility and teamwork. And, by Primus, had he been given a demonstration of that.

He was aware of the fact that his presence as Optimus' bodyguard and primary weapons specialist had not gone unnoticed among the cadets and it already had resulted in some posing and showing off on some of the contestants' parts. Naturally, this usually hadn't reflected well onto the cadet in question and Ironhide had taken care to note those things.

Ironhide still remembered wondering if those large differences in size of the last team to start would be an advantage or a disadvantage when they took off.

They had started with what looked like the usual strategy – namely no strategy at all. Bumblebee, the smallest and fastest one, had shot off from the starting line, leaving his comrades quickly behind. The medium sized 'bots had followed at a somewhat slower pace, letting the last one tag behind.

The first obstacle was a wall too tall for even the biggest 'bot to simply climb over. Ironhide knew this obstacle well and also knew that while it usually was no problem for small to medium sized Autobots, who could use the installed handholds easily, really large 'bots never could find a good hold. Normally the best strategy in a good team was to provide stepping stones from their bodies, enabling the largest to get the necessary height to grab onto the upper edge of the wall and pull himself up.

By the time the rest of the team reached the wall the yellow 'bot had pretty much already flown over it. But instead of rushing on to the next obstacle, as Ironhide had somehow expected him to do, Bumblebee had stopped and turned around, doing something to the base of the wall that Ironhide couldn't quite see. An astro-second later, Tweel and RV arrived at the wall, but hesitated to climb it. Suddenly there were two explosions and the wall shook. While Bumblebee now raced on, the medium sized 'bots put their shoulders to the wall and, before it clearly registered what was going on, they had toppled it over. The wall crashed down with a resounding thump that made the ground shake. Seconds later Bulldozer arrived, walking over what remained of the wall without losing stride.

Meanwhile Bumblebee had arrived at the second obstacle. This consisted of a narrow canyon with a group of pistons that shot out of the walls and the floor at irregular intervals. Good reflexes were the key to this problem and the yellow Autobot showed that his were excellent as he ran through it almost without losing speed.

Like with the first obstacle, he didn't go on directly to the next one, but stopped after leaving the canyon. Ironhide saw him opening a panel there then jacking on to the piston controller. A few moments later this obstacle had been disabled as well, the pistons frozen in mid-movement, stopping to be a threat to the rest of his team.

He waited for the others to catch up to him before they moved as a group on to the next obstacle, a deep trench filled with mud and water.

By then the spectators had realized that something unusual was going on. The other cadets started to cheer the last team on. It didn't seem to matter to them that the team didn't quite follow the rules like they had.

The instructors on the other hand didn't react quite as elated. One of them made to end the exercise, but Ironhide put out his arm and stopped him.

"Let them go on. I want to see what they think of next," he said, his voice not accepting any objections.

He thought he knew what was going on – and in a way he admired them for having the guts to pull it off. The task the team had been given was to go through the course as fast a possible. And that really was all they were doing. There were no rules that said that in the end the course had to be still standing – he had checked.

In the end, of the original seventeen obstacles in the course, barely one had survived unscarred. Some had been taken apart to provide material to ease the crossing of others. Some had simply been obliterated. Sometimes it had been the agility of Bumblebee that had saved the day, at other times they had made good use of the size and the strength of Bulldozer. They had used their bipedal forms to their fullest advantage, but had also transformed several times when the alternate mode had proven to be more practical.

They had left a path of destruction behind them.

They also crossed the finishing line with the fastest time ever recorded in Academy's history.

---

"What in the name of Primus have you been thinking?" Ironhide roared at the four cadets standing at attention in front of him.

The four looked straight ahead, none of them daring to go first. Ironhide could see that some tight band communication was going on between them.

Finally it was Bumblebee who answered in a carefully controlled voice. "Sir, I take full responsibility for our actions. It was I who convinced the others to go along."

Ironhide almost nodded. He had suspected all along that the smaller 'bot had been the one behind all this. The way he had behaved on the obstacle course and how the others had revered to him had spoken louder than words.

"All right, cadet, then explain to me why you saw it necessary to destroy this obstacle course?"

Bumblebee glanced shortly aside, taking a quick look at the destruction they – or he, as it may be – had wrought.

"Sir, with all due respect, it seemed to be the best method to get through the course in the fastest way. There's no rule that states in which manner a group has to get over each obstacle as long as every single member does get over it."

Ironhide had to suppress a grin. So the little 'bot had discovered that loop hole in the regulations, the same loop hole he had checked out before. Smart. And he had admitted to having convinced his team mates as well. This spoke of good leadership qualities. He would need to learn some diplomacy, but this would be coming in time, Ironhide was convinced of that. He saw a great career in Bumblebee's future.

Still, he couldn't let him off the hook that easily.

"That may be. Still, don't you think that it was a little bit … on the extreme side?"

One of the larger 'bots moved as if to speak up, but Bumblebee spoke before the other could cut in. His optics lit up and he sounded much older than the few deca-cycles he had in fact lived.

"Sir, we all know that we are training to go to war one day. And when there's a battle, a real battle, there will be no regulations. It will be about using every weapon one has to the best of one's ability. Not about rules."

Dear Primus, how did those young 'bots get so old so fast? It was this cursed war, Ironhide knew, and there was no use thinking about it too much. Still he wished it would be different.

"There's some truth to that. You four have done well in seeing that. Congratulations."

The four relaxed visibly, but Ironhide went on.

"That doesn't mean you're home free. I expect that your instructors will have you rebuild the course in your off time."

The shoulders of the larger 'bots sagged, but Bumblebee didn't move. He only nodded and looked him square into the optics.

"Sir, we knew that when we started. We actually already made plans for some improvements in the course. Some of those obstacles were far too easy to eliminate."

For an astro-second Ironhide was too stunned to speak. To have the cheek to complain about the easiness of a training. Then he couldn't hold himself anymore and he burst out laughing.

Yes, this little Autobot would go far. Ironhide would need to keep his optics on him. And maybe … maybe he would invite him to join his team one day. It would be a challenge, but it would definitely be worth it.

The end


End file.
